A small circle of friends including myself have been looking at all the various ways we might transport ourselves to work efficiently. Electric bikes, scooters, mopeds, gas scooters, etc. Unforunately we live in a cold climate half the year with a lot of snow (well, except this past winter…) so these options are limited in use. Here’s a cool, if somewhat primitive (not necessarily bad) site devoted to electric personal transport.

We also have an extensive paved trail system in the greater Rochester area, much of which runs along the Erie Canal and a lot of old railway beds.

It connects the suburbs in all four directions with downtown. For example, I work 8 miles further out into the suburbs from my suburban home. If I could ride a nice quiet electric scooter along the canal path I could make 3/4 of my commute along a scenic, traffic-free right of way without needing to go fast enough to disturb pedestrians and cyclists. My friend Sean, who works downtown, could do even better, making virtually the entire trip along the canal and Genesee river.

If anyone out there has any experience with these vehicles please offer some input.

I think we’ve ruled Segways out at this point but the new ones are certainly interesting. I wonder if the all-terrain one works in snow…

Update, while making that Segway link I ended up watching their Flash video and this thing is pretty cool. Might have to revise my thinking. The video claims they get the equivelant of 450 mpg! That should cut into my carbon debt.